GHCHS DECA takes part in Believe campaign

On November 26, the Granada Hills Charter High School (GHCHS) DECA team began its letter writing fundraiser to contribute to Macy’s Believe campaign for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The team collected letters written about personal beliefs from GHCHS students as well as the Granada Hills community. Amassed letters were turned in to the Northridge Macy’s store on December 11, which is this year’s “Believe Day.” On Believe Day, Macy’s donates $2, double their usual amount, for each letter turned into Macy’s stores.

DECA first began this fundraiser last year and raised $6,624, and this year the team collected over 5,000 letters by December 9, achieving their goal to surpass last year’s collection. Prompting the start of DECA’s fundraiser, DECA team advisor, Andrew Nelson first met with Make-A-Wish Foundation representatives at a Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) conference last year and decided to create the holiday letter campaign.

While this fundraiser fulfills the DECA team’s community service campaign requirement, the effort of the team to spread the word shows their true philanthropic desire to help.

“We don’t want [DECA] to just be an academic team that participates in competitions. enterpreneurial and leadership skills are often best reinforced and promoted while serving the community,” Nelson said.

All the ideas for letter collection come from DECA team members and the greater student body. For example, letter collectors enlisted the help of nearby schools and talked to local school principals for their cooperation.

“We’re not doing it because we have to. I like that this holiday letter campaign gives us a chance to give back without being forced to,” the holiday letter campaign chairperson, senior Karla Bautistasaid.